One fifth of renovation contractors in the U.S. will need to be trained and certified in lead-safe work practices in the next two weeks. The EPA announced on Thursday, April 8, 2010 in a press release that the agency is moving full steam ahead with implementation of its Lead Renovation, Repair and Painting (LRRP) rule, and 125,000 renovation and remodeling contractors still have not reported their certification. The rule goes into effect on April 22, 2010, by which time contractors must have reported their training and certification complete.

"There has been tremendous progress by people working in the construction and remodeling trades to become trained in lead-safe work practices," said Steve Owens, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances. "All a contractor needs to do to be certified is take a simple one-day course."

The agency finalized the LRRP rule in 2008. The rule requires contractors to become trained and certified as lead-safe by EPA. Individuals take an eight-hour training course offered by private training providers to become a certified renovator. The certification is valid for five years.

To date, the EPA has certified 190 training providers who have conducted more than 4,900 courses, the agency said. An estimated 100,000 people in the construction and remodeling industries have been trained in lead-safe work practices. Based on current EPA estimates, the agency expects more than 125,000 contractors to be certified by the April 22 deadline.

Click here to locate local EPA-accredited RRP training providers using the EPA's search tool.

Click here for more information on firm certification.